Sweet Nothing
by Irene Claire
Summary: Silly little oneshot. Danny is baking for Grace and Steve just can't help himself. Special thanks to CinderH for such a super fast beta!


**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended. Ever!**

*** H50 * H50 * H50 * H50 * H50 ***

Danny stood staring at Steve with an astounded mixture of awe, shock and possibly even a layer of disgust. "What did you do?"

The face altered from one of pleasure to complete uncertainty as he swallowed hard. He stammered and then backed away from the kitchen table in Danny's apartment as if stung by an irate bee. "Uh. Nothing."

The raised eyebrows clearly indicated that nothing was the wrong answer since Steve had _clearly_ done something. Since it affected Grace, that _something_ suddenly didn't seem like a wise idea. Embarrassed, Steve backed up a bit more to edge closer to the small living room ... he had about fifteen feet to go in order to reach the front door and escape.

"Steve. What did you just do?" Danny was still staring at him before focusing his intense glare at the twenty-four paper-lined cubbyholes he'd just painstakingly measured batter into. Based upon the decidedly guilty expression and stiff posture, Steve had absolutely been up to no good in the sweet-smelling kitchen.

The first batch of twenty-four sat benignly on the cooling racks where a few had already been iced in pretty colors for the Aloha Girls pending bake sale. Tubs of chocolate, blue and pink icing sat opened and ready to be used along with colorful candy confetti shapes. It was a neat and orderly assembly line. Danny intended to finish icing and then boxing that first batch while the second baked in the oven.

"You did something." Danny's face changed again as he mentally counted his cooling soldiers and then eyed the batter remaining in the mixing bowl. Steve blanched when Danny recounted twice and then firmly set his jaw. He was sunk.

"Nope. I .. uh .. didn't do a thing." Raised eyebrows became narrowed suspicious eyes as Danny's gaze locked back on his face. Danny was squinting now and Steve almost stopped breathing. He had about ten feet to safety as he slowly edged back just a few more casual steps.

"Grace is going to love these, Danno." Steve flinched at the lame, hollow sound as he glanced once over his shoulder. Five feet remained and his fingers itched to hit the handle on the door.

"I didn't know you could bake." He paused and tried to smile. "So well .. that is."

Oddly, Danny didn't reply as his eyes fell to the spatula in Steve's right hand. _Damn_, he'd forgotten to put it down and it was now dripping left over cupcake batter onto the tiled floor. There were flecks of pink and blue icing on two of his fingers which he hadn't seen before but Danny didn't seem to notice.

_Yet_.

There were also two used yellow paper bakery cups now shoved deeply into the pocket of his cargoes where they seemed to be burning a guilty hole through the fabric.

"Really?" Danny breathed out as if beginning to interrogate a suspect that he had zero tolerance for. "Then why are you holding that?"

He was momentarily stuck at five feet as his voice failed him and his mind raced through a number of reasons for holding the batter-covered spatula. None of which made any sense at all as he wavered on the brink of escape. The fact that two cupcakes were noticeably missing from the racks had become a very large problem.

"You have pink icing on your chin." The remark was much too bland and Steve leaned his upper body forward as far as he dared to lay the spatula on the counter. The move revealed the icing smeared on his fingers and Steve watched Danny's face darken.

"Here you go. You probably still need this, right?" Steve tried to smile as he used one finger to tap it closer to the mixing bowl. As he straightened up, he took two large steps backwards to put his hand almost within reach of the door. He was so close that he could almost feel the sunlight on his shoulders.

One stolen cupcake had become two and Steve's smile faltered as Danny recounted those cooling for the third time. He was definitely in trouble as Danny's hands stilled dangerously.

"They're really quite .. good. Delicious ... actually."

After those two cupcakes, the batter had become too enticing and he'd only used one finger on the spatula before Danny had unexpectedly come back into the kitchen. His phone call to Grace about when and where to drop the finished products off for the bake sale had been much shorter than Steve anticipated and he'd been caught in the act. It didn't matter that he simply couldn't help himself.

"Steven." The exasperated sigh wasn't what he expected but Steve still grimaced as he wondered what was coming next.

His hand was now on the door when Danny abruptly turned and opened the small refrigerator. From where he stood, Steve peered over his shoulder to see three small boxes lined up in the front. Picking one, Danny tossed it towards him across the counter top. It landed just out of reach with a solid thump.

"I made extras you goof."

"Oh." Steve's smile was back as he dared to re-enter the kitchen. The box held two perfectly decorated cupcakes and his name was scrawled across the top; no doubt, the other two boxes were for Chin and Kono. He could see that his held one chocolate and one blue cupcake and he grinned happily. But as he put his hand out to scoop the box to himself, Danny cleared his throat in warning.

The gift had become a trap and Steve hesitated as Danny folded his arms as if daring him to touch the box. His mouth watered and he needed to ask, but he knew he'd likely lose his icing covered fingers if he tried to actually take it.

"So. Uh .. can I still have them?"

"What did you do!" Danny glared at Steve with an astounded mixture of awe, shock and now a definite layer of disgust. The words were the same but the tone had completely changed. His original suspicious question was now a caustic accusation of guilt and Steve unconsciously rubbed the icing off his chin. He was definitely not getting them now; in fact, he had just made a donation to the Aloha Girl's bake sale table.

"Nothing .. really." His fingers accidentally connected with the used crumpled paper bake cups in his pocket as he backed up again.

"But ... well, I didn't know you could bake, Danno." Steve blurted while he watched Danny push his box back into the refrigerator. Danny only squinted dangerously again at the failed apology and it was all enough to send Steve fleeing back towards his escape route.

Then Steve had another thought about the box with his name penned across the top ... the Aloha Girl's Bake Sale.

He only needed to buy it back.

_**~ Fin ~**_


End file.
